Naruto: Spirit Rising
by General Kain of Whirlpools
Summary: The Heart of a Human and the Soul of a Hollow. These are the attributes one Naruto Namikaze holds.


Naruto opened his eyes, greeted to see an oak wood ceiling, one he has grown familiar with these last few weeks. He groaned as he pulled himself forward, his body struggled to fight off it's own tired wishes. But, he was failing epically. Nonetheless, he yawned, then looked over to his window, coming to see the sun beginning its ascent over Karakura town. The blue, leading to gold, morning light that began to bath over the town and seep into his room. It creating a cast of light that slowly blanketed over the shadow that came with the night before.

Naruto straightened his back, his face gaining a content smile as the sound of several cracks pleasantly hit his ears, bringing him relief from his stiff muscles. Finally, getting his first wind, Naruto gripped the edge of his yellow orange bed covers, and threw them to the side. He turned his body, threw his legs to side of his bed, and, with the help of his arms, pushed himself off the bed. He stood and stretched his body out, adjusting to the feeling of his body waking up after a long, great rest.

A soft knock came at the door. Naruto turned to it, expecting a voice with it. "Naruto! Are you awake?" Asked a slightly muffled female voice.

Naruto walked to his closet and slid one of the doors to the side and began to search for his school uniform. "Yes, mom! I'm getting ready."

"Ok. Breakfast is on the table, and since it's your first day of high school, your school things should be all packed. It's a new school after all." His mother informed.

"Yeah mom, I know. I'll be there in a minute." He replied in a tired tone.

He pulled out his uniform. His mom was a little naggy, Naruto admitted, but he didn't mind it so much. It was his first day, she has been on about it for the last week making sure he was ready.

He quickly put on his uniform, making sure everything was right in its place. Once he was done looking over himself, making sure he didn't have his shirt on backwards or anything like that. He walked to the foot of his bed and grabbed his satchel, slinging it over his shoulder. Then making it to his door, he unlocked it, opened it and slowly left his room. He gently closed the door behind him. He didn't want to wake up his younger brother or sister. So, he stepped softly by their rooms, making sure not to make a sound. Once he passed Haru's room, he ran per his toes and quickly turned at the corner, then running down the stairs for the kitchen. He came down to see his mother, to the far side of the kitchen, cooking over the stove, making a visibly large meal. His father at the dining table with two bento boxes, most likely building his younger siblings' lunches.

He smiled widely as he stepped to the dining table. "Morning mom, dad." Both parents turned to their first born.

Kushina Namikaze was no doubt a beautiful woman. By appearance, a woman in her late prime. Her vibrant red hair reached all the way to her ankles, also leaving delicate bangs that trailed her face. She held a heart-shaped face that held her bright amber eyes and button nose. She stood at a moderate height of 5"10, just under Naruto who was 5"11, and her husband who was 6"2.

Minato, a man who was greatly respected by all those who met him. He stood, as previously stated, at the impressive height of 6"2. He had golden spiky locks, two reaching down and formed two long bangs that trailed the sides of his face, both reaching slightly past his chin. He had oceanic blue eyes similar to that of his son's. Well, the only real difference between him and Naruto was, his son's face, which he got from his mother, shade of hair, his son's being sun kissed, and the black markings that trailed against Naruto's cheeks, resembling whiskers.

Minato, with his signature smile, closed one of the bento boxes before he greeted his son. "Good morning son."

Naruto nodded, smiling as well. Kushina walked to him and gave him two rather big boxes. "Here's your lunch. It should be enough to state you over, it would look weird if you went to school on your first day with five bento boxes!" She giggled mischievously as Naruto chuckled sheepishly. She let her mirth leave her and she gave her son a gentle smile. "I hope you have a wonderful day at school Naruto." She kissed his forehead, using her toes to do so. Naruto face turned dusty, embarrassed. He scratching his cheek lightly with the tips of his fingers and laughing uncomfortably. "Yeah."

Minato chuckled and accompanied his son to the door. Naruto looked at his father, who just chuckled. "Naruto, have a good time. You'll know where to find me if you need anything." Naruto nodded and began walking down the street, prepared for his next journey.

Kushina quickly joined Minato at the door. She bent forward slightly and yelled as loud as she could. "Make sure to get a girlfriend!"

Minato chuckled as his son's form vanished into the distance with a smoke trail. His wife silently cackling at his side.

-{NSR}-

Naruto walked by the river that ran through Karakura. It was supposed to be his guide to school but he had been walking for about twenty minutes and he couldn't see anything that looked like a school in sight. He was gonna be late at this point and boy that would be crummy, being late on your first day of school. And no doubt his mom would get on his case for a while. This was going to turn out to be a very bad day if things didn't go well right now. He halted his pace and let out a heavy sigh, silently hoping for sign. He looked, hoping to see he school over the hill that stretched to the sidewalk, only to blink when he saw an orange-haired guy who wore the same outfit he did.

"Oh, just some guy." He muttered miserably. He was about to go on his way until his mind just clicked. The kid was wearing the uniform as him.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, and the orange-haired teen paused at his voice. Said teen looked down and noticed him. He starred at Naruto with a questioning look, though said nothing. Naruto just waved. "Are you going Karakura high?"

"Yeah. You are?" the teen asked. 'Cause after taking a closer look, he noticed he had never seen this guy before. He would remember someone with blond hair like that. Stood out too much.

Naruto hurriedly climbed up the tiles to reach the road where the orange haired teen stood. He reached out and saluted at the teen with a far grin.

"I'm Naruto Namikaze, and I'm a new student at your school… Nice to meet you!" Naruto bowed, suddenly remembering the pain of his mother practically beating manners into him when he was younger. Honestly, the bowing was an impulse due to the phantom pain when he didn't.

The teen nodded, understanding. While the beginning of the semester had passed, having new students arrive a month or two latter was a normal occurrence. The only odd thing was that the closer Naruto got, the more... odd he felt. Nevertheless, he shared his name as well. "I'm Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

Naruto's grin widened. "Would you mind showing me the way… Mr. Kurosaki?" He asked formally, not sure if he could talk the way he wanted with this guy.

"Sure, but no need for the formalities. Ichigo's just fine." He replied, ignored how Naruto's unnaturally large grin got wider. The two began to walk the silent streets of Karakura to their high school.

Naruto grinned once more when they arrived at the school's gate. "I hope this is better than my last school. It certainly looks better!"

Ichigo looked at the blond. "Why? What's wrong with your old school?"

Naruto's grin left his face, a small frown replacing it. "I… don't want to talk about it."

Ichigo shrugged. Everyone deserved their privacy, something his dad had a hard time figuring out. "?" In the corner of his eye, he noticed his rather tall friend. He turned back to Naruto only to see him walking off.

Naruto waved at Ichigo as he made his way to the front of the school, his eyes absorbing in everything around him. He noticed the front doors. Might as well get used to the inside. He walked for the entrance doors, only to be stopped by a tall, blond-haired teen. The guy actually sneered at him before he spoke in this thick Brooklyn accent. "Punks like you piss me off. You can't go changing how you look dipshit, coping me, cut your freaking hair." He growled out his insults like venom.

Naruto rose a brow at this guy. Was he serious? Well, this was just awkward. He gave the guy a raised brow and pointed at his hair. "This is my natural hair color."

The teen and his five followers began to circle Naruto. The students nearby began to watch and spectate, few voicing their disapproval of the fight and even a few betting on who would win. Ichigo approached the circle, a tired yet annoyed look in his eyes. The teen that talked to Naruto tried to grab his shoulders. Only for Naruto to lean back out his range. His face contorted in annoyance and he tried to grab again. Naruto simply ducked under his arms and fluidly circled about around the hulking bully. Naruto only gave him a wide-eyed expression as he poked his side. "You need something?"

Ichigo paused at that. His interest and curiosity roused by the blonde's sudden actions.

The held back high schooler grit his teeth. "You gonna regret that fox face!" He took a swung at the new student.

Naruto only ducked under the assailant's poor excuse of a punch. "Sorry, but I can't fight." He said apologetically. "Promised mom I wouldn't."

"Shut up!" The guy Naruto didn't know the name to. "Get him!" He shouted at his cronies.

Naruto turned to look at the other five guys with a dead stare. "Oh boy."

The five began inch closer, ready to jump the blond. Naruto sighed as he brought his hands to his pockets and bent his knees. It was his first damn day and he was already getting pulled in a fight. Over his hair no less, this was ridiculous. "I got nothing against you guys," he laid out a hard glare. "So just back off."

In return, he only got chuckles from the apparent leader of the group, cracking his knuckles as he approached him from behind.

Naruto only frowned, he was being pulled in a circle.

A tall teen of marron skin made to enter the closing circle, only to be stopped by a hand obstructing his path. It belonged to Ichigo. "Ichigo?"

"Wait Chad," Ichigo asked his taller friend.

"All man this isn't good!" A shorter brown haired teen nervously shook. "That's Reiichi! What's he doing here?"

"His suspension must have been lifted early." Another calmer teen suggested.

"Why Ichigo?" Sado asked the orange haired teen.

"He knows what he's doing."

Naruto clicked his tongue as he ducked under one guy, going under his arm and whipped his hand out from his pocket and gave a heavy chop to the back of the guy's head. He was down like a light.

Reiichi and the other paused at the quick subjection of one of his guys. They watched as the natural blond rubbed the back if his head.

"Well, that was anticlimactic." He muttered to himself before he redirected his attention at the rest of the bullies. "Hey, you better get your friend to the infirmly if its open, I may have hit him too hard, I felt a crack."

Reiichi growled. "You think your funny?!"

"No." Naruto shook his head. "But you guys are." He said that a bit loudly as he looked away.

"That's it punk!" Some other guy yelled as he charged at Naruto from behind.

The blond only took a large step to the side, turned, grabbed the arm of the guy aiming for him, pulled him down, then finally kneed his gut. Another was down, puking up some spit before he went off to dream land.

"Okay, that was another one-Are you sure you guys don't want to the nurse?" Naruto asked.

The remaining 4 bullies, excluding Reiichi, began to inch back. They weren't expecting this guy to fight back! Who would! He was outnumbered!

Reiichi growled as he saw his boys falling back. "Get him! All of you!"

Naruto frowned as the bullies' got their spines back. And with it they all charged him. Well there goes that plan.

They tried to dogpile him, get him down and start wailing. But as one guy got near, the blond high kicked him to the sky, casing him to fly back to the dirt. They froze. Just what the blonde needed as he gripped the hair of another tall kid and pulled his head down as he leaped forward, slamming his knee in his face. Another down. The other two got their sense and charged the blonde.

Naruto only turned and slammed his foot in the face of the largest one, causing him to stagger, he kicked his other foot off the ground and used the teen's face as a foot board to jump in the air and fall down on the second teen, slamming his fist in his face, bringing the scrawny teen down along with him. He finished by kicking his feet in the air and spinning on a handstand to plant his heel at the back of the wide teen's head, causing the wide kid to fall face first, downed and out.

Reiichi, along with most of the students outside stared at the blonde in shock of different shades. Said blonde delinquent could barely find words as the natural blonde patted his pants.

"Man, I just got these pants." Naruto wined before he sighed. "Well-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Naruto and all the other students turned to the loud and obviously pissed voice. Everyone besides Naruto recognized the figure.

"I come to find the bell rings not one student walks through these main doors." A lady of mid age appearance shouted, dressed in formal wear. "Imagine my surprise when I see all of you in the court yard! And you!" She pointed at the new student, who rose his hands in defense. "My office!" She turned to the rest of the student body. "The rest of you! Get to class! Reiichi! After you and your classmates are checked in the infirmary I want you all to call your parents and come to my office!"

The bully clicked his teeth. The rest of the students quickly left to class, with faculty members helping the unconscious boys to the infirmary wing.

Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head as he made his way to what he could guess was the principle. "Uhm!" He tried to find the right words. "I didn't mean to hurt them so hard! I mean I was only defending myself!" He defended himself.

"My office Mr. Namikaze." The short haired brunet replied, before turning on her heel.

Naruto sighed. He was so dead.

"It's your first day and you already have gotten yourself in fights Namikaze." The principle chastised.

"I'm sorry." Naruto bowed his head in submission, knowing he was dead either way.

"Raise your head Mr. Namikaze." The principle replied tiredly. "You are only be given a warning."

"Eh?!" Was Naruto's intelligent response.

Mrs. Runaka fixed him a hard glare. "Only due to the circumstances. This first offence, as well at the reputation Mr. Oshima and his actions against students of unique traits."

Naruto happily clapped his hands. "Thanks Mrs. Principle! I promise I won't get in anymore trouble!"

"It's Mrs. Runaka." She corrected him. "You may proceed to class."

Naruto grinned and practically skipped out of her office.

Naruto soon found himself outside his homeroom, taking a bit longer than he liked to find the class. He knocked on the door, before opening it. "Hello?"

"Oh," A brown haired woman with thin round glasses spotted the blond as he entered her class. "You must be our new student."

Naruto nodded, ignoring the whispers of the rest of the students. "Yeah."

"Well." The teach stood up and offered a smile. "Please introduce yourself to the class."

"Oh, okay." Naruto turned to the class, he blinked when he noticed Ichigo, the guy he met earlier, was in the class. Small world... or school. "Hi!" He waved to the class. "My name is Naruto Namikaze, happy to meet you guys. I hope we have fun together." He gave a boyish grin put his hands behind his head.

The majority of the class just stared at the blonde, many of them having witnessed his fight with the school bullies. They didn't know how to react to him yet.

"Namikaze..." Mrs. Ochi muttered before a bulb went off above her head. "Oh! Right! Your father is the new school physician isn't he?" That earned the attention of few of the students.

Naruto blinked at that. "Yeah."

Mrs. Ochi nodded, satisfied. "You may take a seat where you like."

Naruto nodded and quickly made to a open seat, taking one right beside Ichigo. He gave the orange haired teen a cheeky thumbs up. He only got a smirk in return.

Time went by and quickly Naruto found himself bored, doodling in his notebook as Mrs. Ochi spoke to the class, something about beginning the school year with a strong start, which was kind of weird since this was like 5 weeks in. But he barely paid it mind as he continued his doodle. If one would look over his work, one would see the sketchy depictions of archers and black monsters fighting with white faces.

Eventually, his own drawings began to lose his own interest and he sighed as he looked out the window. His interest being caught by a few birds flying over the roofs of the adjacent buildings. His eyes widened. A blur on the roof tops caught his attention. A dark robbed figure speedily leaping across the roof tops, but it happened too fast to know if it was real or a trick of the eyes. He frowned in confusion.

"Mr. Namikaze, please pay attention."

Naruto faced the slightly miffed teacher and nodded. "Sorry."

The teacher nodded, accepting his apology, and returned to the class.

-{NSR}-

The lunch bell had ringed after what seemed like hours, and everybody was joining up with friends, moving up and down the hall to eat lunch. Naruto had left class in a hurry, trying to find the nurse's office as quickly as he could. He really hopped his dad was here, he was starting to get those stomach aches again, they had started a little before the bell rang. It didn't bother him that bad right now but he didn't want to let it grow, it would be hell if he did.

"Naruto."

Naruto turned at his name, he was surprised to see it was Ichigo, coming from around the corner. "Oh. Hey Ichigo."

"You bolted without a word." The orange head pointed out. "I wanted to ask you to eat lunch with us." He had on that same disinterested look.

Naruto thought it over. He could help his dad out in a bit. He was going to be there after school. And god knows if his mom figured out he passed on potential friends, she would have his neck.

He shivered, earning a raised brow from Ichigo.

"Sure!" He gave a nervous smile. "Lead the way!"

Ichigo gave him an odd look, but nodded and turned on his heel.

It was only a minute or two before Naruto found himself lead to the roof. It was a bit barren, at least the more open center was.

At the far end were three other students were eating their meals. One of them looking taller life, the Namikaze noticed.

The brow haired guy suddenly looked up from his meal and noticed them approaching. He quickly waved at them with a huge smile on his face. "Hey Ichigo!" He didn't notice Naruto it seemed.

"Hey Ichigo..." A much calmer guy greeted, then paused as he took notice of their other approaching classmate. "And you're the new student right?"

Naruto gave a wave with a small smile. "Yeah. Naruto."

"My name is Mizuiro Kojima."

"Ah!" The brown haired kid shot up from his seat and dramatically pointed at the blond, causing him to blink owlishly.

"You're that guy who fought in front of the school!"

"This is Keigo Asuno." Mizuiro introduced.

"Yeah." Naruto answered Keigo. Not sure if he asked him a question or not. "Hi."

"Is that all you have to say?!"

Naruto nodded.

Ichigo shook his head. "Knock it off Asano." He lightly hit the frantic on the head, knocking him down.

"Ow!"

"Yo." Naruto waved at the guy he knew was taller than him or his dad.

"That's Chad." Ichigo introduced the quiet guy, but he did offer a wave to the blonde.

"Hi, nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Naruto sat down, taking a sit next to Chad. He brought his bag and quickly joined in with his meal.

"Whoa!" Keigo was suddenly in front of the blonde. "That's a big meal!"

Naruto looked down at his launch. It was larger, than most. The box alone was 3 times bigger than a normal one, and he had two of them. "Really? I usually eat a lot more than this." He said plainly.

Ichigo raised a brow at that.

"You got to be kidding! That would get a normal guy sick!?"

"Keigo, stop being rude." Mizuiro scolded the hyper teen.

"What? I'm only saying the truth!"

Naruto looked at Sado, seeing him about finished his meal. He didn't seem to be in the talking mood. But he asked a question anyway. "So who was that guy anyway, his morning?" He asked before taking a bite of one of his rice balls. His stomach ache relenting a bit as he did.

"That was Reiichi." Ichigo replied coolly.

"He was suspended on the first day of school for picking a fight." Mizuiro chimed in.

"His suspension must have gotten shortened or something. He wasn't supposed to be here." Keigo added.

Naruto gave them a curios look. "Who did he fight with?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo and Keigo replied at the same time, then the later cowering behind Mizuiro from the former's glare.

Naruto grinned at that. "Must have been fun."

Ichigo only rolled his eyes, yet the hint of a smirk came to his lips.

-{NSR}-

It was afterschool, the bell just rang and everyone was making their way home or some afterschool activity. He was making due on a promise to his dad. So, he was off to the nurse's office. Huh, that was still an odd thing to hear. From head Doctor to school nurse. What a weird turn.

It took sometime to find it but he did, on the first floor, the infirmary. He quickly opened the door and was greeted to the man he wanted to see. "Dad! Hey!"

Minato looked at the doorframe as he set a small box down at the foot of a bed. "Oh, Naruto." He smiled at his son as he straightened his back. "How was the day so far son?"

"Good I guess." Naruto shrugged before he sat down at one of the cleared off beds and put his bag between his feet. "School's over and I said I'd help out." He pulled his sleeves up with a goofy smile.

"Already that time huh?" Minato wondered as he looked at the clock at his mostly vacant desk. He gave a his son a curious look. "Have you made any friends yet?"

"Eh..." Naruto pondered it for a moment. Ichigo and his gang. Were they his friends? He would like to think so. They weren't so bad of guys. "Maybe a couple." He smiled.

Minato nodded. "Good, your mother will be happy to hear that." He sat down in his revolving chair as his son pulled out a bottle from his bag. "Now, before anything... What is this about 6 injured students coming to my office before I even checked in?" He narrowed his eyes a bit.

Naruto chuckled as he nervously took a swing of his drink. This was going to be long.

-{NSR}-

Naruto hummed as he walked down the vacant street, he had just left the school about 15 minutes ago. It had been a good first day. It was filled with boring classes sure he made some friends and nothing major happened, and really, that was all that you could ask for.

As the blonde turned around the next corner, he paused at the scene he came upon. That scene being Ichigo, connecting a high kick to the chin of guy a few inches taller than him. The guy flew back to land next to the heaps of bruises that were his buddies. What was going on? He chooses to watch, his curiosity too much. He watched as Ichigo forced the beaten thugs them to fix the fallen over flower vase.

He rose a brow at that, until he noticed the small translucent figure hiding behind a telephone pole. It was a sprit, a tragic one at that. Poor kid. Must have been in an accident. But knowing that dawned a question. Could Ichigo see her?

He watched as the delinquents ran with their tails between their legs, and Ichigo as he apologized to the soul's resting place. Naruto was surprised though when the spirit spoke to Ichigo. He replied, looking down directly at the spirit.

Naruto calmed himself down by taking a deep breath. No reason to hide now. He walked out from the corner with a wide grin planted on his face. "Ichigo! I didn't know you could talk to spirits!"

Ichigo turned to see Naruto walking down the street. He lifted a brow as he tugged at his bag as he held it over his shoulder. "Naruto, what are you doing here?"

Naruto spoke with a straight tone, yet it was a mix of exasperation and joy. "My house is this way, but you completely ignored my question about the girl."

Ichigo blinked at that and looked at the girl, she was looking between the two of them. "You can see her?"

Naruto nodded. "Of course I can." Naruto looked at Ichigo as if he just found out he was mentally retarded.

Ichigo looked at him with a scowl. "I mean... how long could you see them for?"

Naruto shrugged. He walked to the spirit and patted her head. "For my whole life. My dad says its just my imagination. But since you see them too I guess they're real! ...Or we're both crazy." He pondered.

Ichigo nodded, ignoring that last part. He turned on his heel and began to walk home. "Let's talk more tomorrow. I have to get home."

Naruto nodded, then an idea came to him. "Hey! Tell your family they can come for dinner."

Ichigo turned his head and looked at Naruto with a confused expression.

Naruto grinned. "I would like meet your family. Plus! I want to thank you for letting me hang out with your friends!"

Ichigo looked down for a moment, contemplating on what to say. He didn't really think it was a big deal. But he didn't really see anything wrong with it. "I'll ask dad when I go home." He replied slowly.

Naruto nodded. "I'll tell mom to make enough food for...?" Naruto realized he didn't know the members of Ichigo's family.

Ichigo, seeing his expression, finished for him. "4. Me, my dad, and my two sisters."

Naruto nodded and began to walk home with a pleasant beat in his steps.

Ichigo thought about it again. Wait a minute! He didn't know where Naruto lived! He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Where do you live?" He shouted.

Naruto replied without turning. "It's about 7 blocks from here. It's the tallest house in that area."

"Alright!" Ichigo replied.

They both returned to their home. Ichigo opened his door only to casually duck under the flying kick of his father. "Hey Dad," he greeted his father casually.

Isshin got up from the ground and gave his son a thumb's up. "Excellent work in dodging my kick! Ichigo!"

Ichigo ignored his father's idiocy and stepped on his face. "We were invited to a friend's house for dinner so Yuzu, you don't have to cook."

Karin rose a brow. "Why would one of your friends want us over for dinner? Haven't they all seen dad?"

Ichigo shook his head, not bothering to remove his foot from his father's face, the man comically flailing his arms about trying not to eat dirt. "He's new here and he invited us over."

Yuzu clapped her hands in delight. "Maybe he has younger siblings too!"

Karin looked skeptical. "Are you sure his family isn't like ours? I'd hate having to see another person like dad around!"

Isshin finally managed to separate his face from his son's foot. He then ran to a large portrait of his wife and flung himself on it as if hugging the photo itself. "Why must our children be so cruel to their loving father?!" He whined as he cried hysterically.

Ichigo ignored him as he walked through the door. "Let's go, Karin, Yuzu."

The sisters followed after their brother, with Karin dragging their sulking father by the scruff of his shirt.

Naruto opened his front door only to reel as he was hugged by his little sister, Mun. She was eleven-years-old and stood at a nice 4"7. She had short red hair that barley reached the end of her ears. She had bright large violet eyes that always seemed to sparkle in the darkness. Mun smiled at her brother. Naruto smiled back and brushed his sister's hair, earning him a smirk from the growing girl.

"Hey Mun! Where's everybody?"

"Mom went to the convenient store."

Naruto rose a brow. "And she left you alone?"

Mun grinned. "Yep, because I'm awesome."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Would you like to help me make the food, Mun?"

Her eyes sparkled in anticipation. "Ramen right!?" She asked excitedly.

Naruto shook his head, a teasing grin on his face. "No, not tonight. A friend's coming over."

She pouted softly, but relented and gave a big grin while closing her eyes. "Ok!"

Naruto mimicked her expression. He loved his family.

Ichigo and Isshin stared at the 4-story home. Naruto wasn't kidding when he said it was the tallest building around. Most houses in the residential district of Karakura town were one to two stories and rarely three. Four? Well, that just stood out.

Ichigo scratched his head. "He did say it was the largest on the block."

He walked to the door and twisted the knob, eyes widening when he realized it was open. Isshin pointed at his son, irritation flashing across his face. "Ichigo! It's customary to knock when entering a stranger's home."

Ichigo ignored him and opened the door. He, and his sisters, were greeted by the sight of Naruto with a girl and boy hanging off his shoulders as he balanced three trays filled to the brim with food between hands.

Haru is an 11-years-old boy, same age as Mun. A miniature red haired version of his father. Despite his age, his yellow eyes held intelligence beyond his years. His expression showed little-to-no emotion, despite the feeling of happiness he radiated as he hung off his brother's shoulder. Strangely enough, he had a single ahoge sprouting from the top of his hair.

Ichigo's family stared, stunned by the scene they were not expecting.

Naruto, having heard the voices and the door, turned to see Ichigo, and, what he assumed was, his family. He nodded and grinned widely. "Hey Ichigo! … I guess that's your family. Sorry I haven't finished setting the table. My parents weren't here so I had to make most of the food. You could stay in the living room if you want until I've done. Haru, show them the way." With that, he steadily made his way back to the kitchen.

The soon-to-be-preteens jumped off their brother's shoulders as he left. Haru turned to their guests and bowed politely. "Hello, big brother's friends. Please follow me." He gave them a smile that would melt any mother's heart.

Isshin pointed to the boy and looked at Ichigo angrily. "Why is your friend's younger sibling more polite than you, my son, to me?!"

Haru and Mun stared oddly at the man. Ichigo and Karin were restraining themselves from hurting their father so they wouldn't damage the two kid's innocence. The look Mun had was one filled with naivety, while Haru's was severely lacking in it. Mun chose to make her discomfort known.

"Stupid old man." She muttered under her breath, but it was heard by everybody. Isshin fell to the ground, sulking, and did so for about a minute.

Ichigo was about to call out his annoying dad, but the sound of footsteps caught his attention. He turned, only to take a step back.

"Well, Minato, don't you think it's weird to return home to find strangers in it?" The Kurosaki's turned to see, a rather pissed, red haired beauty, cracking her knuckles. Beside her a male taller than Ichigo with a straight sword in his hand, it being pointed right between Ichigo's eyes.

Ichigo, being the older brother and only responsible adult in his family, spoke for his family. "Wait! I'm Ichigo Kurosaki and these are my younger sisters Yuzu and Karin. The one on the ground is my dad." He pointed behind him, but his eyes glued to the sword in the blonde man's hand.

Kushina looked at the very area he pointed, only to raise a brow. "There's no one there."

Ichigo looked to where his father was, only to find he was no longer there. "Eh! Where he go?" He looked frantically around, seeing his dad missing. Kushina cracked her knuckles and slowly advanced on the increasingly frightened teenaged boy. He waved his hands in front of his face, trying to defuse the tense situation. "W-wait! Naruto invited us over." He desperately made out, trying to calm the woman down with the mention of her son. It seemed to work.

That stopped both of the angered parents in their tracks. Minato noticed Haru in the corner of his eyes and gave him a questioning glance. Haru nodded. Minato turned to his skeptical wife. "Haru says it's true." He informed her. Kushina nodded and stared at Ichigo, her eyes narrowed, as if she was measuring his worth.

She sighed, she despised the feeling that reeked off him, but he seemed nice enough to be her baby's friend. "You're not so bad, kid, but you better find your dad before I do." She nursed her head as she went to the kitchen where she hoped her son was at.

Ichigo sighed only to see Minato starting at him. Minato, sensing the rising tension, offered his hand, to which Ichigo hesitantly shook. Minato offered a smile. "I'm Minato, and the woman you met was Kushina. I'm glad my son was able to find a friend so soon."

Ichigo nodded. "Glade to meet you."

Yuzu and a sulking Isshin came through the right door way. When Minato noticed him his eyes widened. Ichigo turned to his sulking father with a deadpan expression. "Where were you, idiot?"

Isshin looked up to yell at his son, only to pause as he noticed Minato. His stare turned serious and he greeted the blond. "Minato, I never thought of seeing you here…" Isshin said calmly to the spiky haired blond. Isshin's kids looked to him in extreme confusion. He wasn't acting like an idiot at all!

Minato nodded and gave him a nostalgic smile. "It's nice to see you as well, Isshin Sh-"

"It's Kurosaki," Isshin interrupted him quickly.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at that. He remained silent.

Minato's eyes darted to the Kurosaki siblings, then back at Isshin. "Of course. I am glad you are well, but it seems you are... worse for wear at the moment."

Isshin nodded giving a humorous chuckle. "Well… there was an incident a couple years ago." He clarified.

Minato nodded.

The two adults began to chat between each other, seemingly catching up. Ichigo listened and he could swear they were sizing each other up.

After about four minutes he lost all intrest and and asked Haru where the living room was. The boy just gave him a nod and lead him and Karin into the living room. There house was larger than theirs, at least their living room was. He plopped down in one of the seats. Karin sitting next to him. He looked around for Yuzu but found her talking feverishly with Mun.

"This is boring." Karin spoke under her breath as she rested her chin in her hands.

"We got here too early."

"If you want to watch TV, here." Haru appeared suddenly to Ichigo's side, much to the carrot top's surprise. The kid handing him the remote, which was quickly snatched by Karin.

After a while, twenty minutes or so, Naruto suddenly came through the door. Haru, with a blank expression, sat on his shoulder. Naruto either didn't notice or didn't care. "Yo Ichigo! The food's ready."

The teen nooded. He and his sister stood up and followed the blonde to the dinning room.

-{NSR}-

A short, black haired woman was seen wearing a standard bellowing kimono as she stood atop a telephone pole. She stared into the night. "I sense a vast concentration of spiritual energy over this city…" She looked down at the streets below. "A large concentration of hollows." She jumped off the pole, heading to the land of mortals.

Ichigo rested, lying down in his bed with his hands behind his head. His time at the Namikaze's was one of the oddest experiences he ever had. The food was god, but that didn't alleviate the awkwardness that really bothered him. Kushina, Naruto's mom. She would glare at Isshin any time his back was turned. Naruto tried to assure him it wasn't anything personal but he didn't know. He closed his eyes as he was about to fall asleep. It was a long day and he had enough.

His hopes were shattered however when a black robed figured entered his room through the window.

-{NSR}-

 _ **"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

A blood curdling scream ripped through the air like thunder. The voice distorted in echoes of it's own wails.

Naruto clutched at his own chest, black claws ripped through his own skin from his spasing fingers as he clawed at his chest. Black life blood coating his fingers.

He roared. White tar flooded from his tear ducks, his eyes black as the knight with their golden orbs dilated. He thrashed as he was restrained down by etheral gold chains.

Minato winched as he sat cross-legged in front of his son. Surrounding them was a golden cube, a barrier he constructed to keep in all the Spiritual Power from being felt across the city. Yet this was not a easy task. His son's uncapped power was coming out in waves. It's very nature harming him with it's very presence. "Ku-Kushina!" He spoke, an amount of blood dripping from his lips.

"I know Minato!" Kushina cried out over her son's wail. "I need more time!"

Another wail came, this time more primal. Trying with all it's might to free itself from it's shackles.

"Naruto." Kushina's voice cracked as she gripped her son's head. "Don't let it win." She was doing all she could, pulling all the Spiritual Energy she could into her body. " **Not now.** " She whispered as her own eyes grew dark, and her corneas and pupils replaced with deep pools of amber with narrow slits. She had another plan.

Minato squinted his eyes as an unbelievable amount pressure fell upon him. His eyes fell on his wife as a familiar corrosive red began to emanate from her frame as roaring flames. He was forced to cover his face as the wind kicked up, the two entities fought for control. His son's roar's cracking and warping the very air as his wife remained silent, now only gripping her son's head as it thrashed about.

It was only moments latter before Naruto's wails began to wain in decibels, and seconds where the white tears ran dry, but it didn't do so without leaving it's mark. And soon, as his wails fell into faint breaths, the light returned to his eyes.

Kushina let out a tired breath before she had to catch herself, her body nearly giving way. She looked down at her son, her vision going blurry, hot tears trailing her cheeks as she gazed on, in a mortified gratification, at her son's new mask.

A porcelain white mask, thin long curved eye slots, Two long pointed protrusions from the corners of the mask's helm. And, a muzzle that complemented a devilish Cheshire grin with several crimson lines falling down the helm to the muzzle.

-END OF CHAPTER

Okay. This fic Is getting rebooted. I have a much more solid direction on this now. However, in the canon story of bleach, I have not read the final arc, frankly cause I was getting bored by it's beginning and just dropped it. If you're waiting for other chapters of my other fics, those are coming. But I've been sick as a dog recently and it's hard to think when your sneezing out your left lung every 10 seconds.

I hoped you liked this. If you have thoughts please share them down below.


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